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San Antonio elects first African American Mayor

On June 13, 2015 Ivy R. Taylor was elected Mayor of San Antonio; before this, she was appointed by the San Antonio City Council to serve as interim Mayor following Julian Castro’s departure.

Ivy Taylor is the first African American person and first woman to be elected mayor of San Antonio. Taylor is also the second female African American mayor elected in Texas history, and the first Black person to be elected in a city that is majority Hispanic.

Previously, she served as a City Council Representative for five years. Mayor Taylor also worked in San Antonio in the City’s Housing and Community Development and Neighborhood Action Departments. Additionally, she worked with a variety of community associations and organizations on city redevelopment projects. Mayor Taylor previously worked as the Vice President for Merced Housing Texas, and is currently a lecturer in the Public Administration Department and College of Public Policy at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA).

Mayor Taylor earned a bachelor’s degree in American Studies from Yale University and a Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from UNC Chapel Hill.

While attending UNC, she served as an intern with the San Antonio Affordable Housing Association and coalition of affordable housing groups, peaking her interests in housing, urban development and public policy. Taylor has served on the City Planning Commission of San Antonio, on the Board of Directors for the Urban Renewal Agency of San Antonio, Haven for Hope, and currently, is a board member for the Martinez Street Women’s Center.